The Disk and the Sword
by CharmingLittleRuby
Summary: Everyone knew the Avengers defeated Ultron many moons ago. But what many didn't know was that Ultron has a much stronger son. Even with the combined forces of the Avengers, they still cannot seem to destroy him. Now it's up to Alana Hudgens and Josh Evansson to stop Ultron. But one little thing; they're just teenagers. (Lol I suck at summaries) OC x OC
1. Chapter 1: Chaos In The Cafeteria

p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"A/N: HI GUYS! Long time no see! I'm sooooooo sorry I haven't updated in forever./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"See, I got uninspired for a moment (more like a year). And since I got inspired again, I decided to rewrite this whole thing cause' my writing style was a piece of trash last year. I might've changed some parts, but most of it is still the same. Okay. Onwards with the story!/strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"{DISCLAIMER: The Avengers belong to Marvel. My OCs, of course, are mine.)/strong/p  
hr style="margin: 5px 0px; border: 0px; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff));" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ever since she became a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Natasha Romanoff learned that a plan made by Nick Fury always succeeded. Today, on the other hand, that didn't seem to be the case./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She entered his office, her arms crossed. Her boss had a look of determination and seriousness on his face. Natasha could tell there was no stopping him and his plan./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""So you really are gonna push through, huh?" Natasha said, coming to lean to his desk./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Nick raised an eyebrow. "Did you think I was joking?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Natasha shrugged. "Then again, you aren't the type to kid around."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She tilted her head toward his computer's screen. On it, she saw two profiles of two individual minors; one male and one female. They both looked around the same age. Probably fifteen. Normally, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't use such information about random teenagers, but this was a different case. And Natasha didn't like it./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She frowned. "emThat's /emthem?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Nick scowled. "Were you expecting more, Agent Romanoff?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Natasha shook her head. "No. It's just... emWhy /emare you hiring these two inexperienced kids to fight alongside us? They barely know what an uppercut is."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Nick swiveled his chair so that his body was facing Natasha, which slightly spooked her. "Correct me if I'm wrong, Agent Romanoff, but weren't emyou /emtrained at an even younger age?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Natasha tried not to show a sign of pain. Bringing up her past wasn't exactly the best idea. She exhaled sharply, mildly annoyed that he didn't answer her question./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Okay. You win." Natasha raised her arms up like a surrendering criminal. "Where am I gonna pick these two scumbags up?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Nick smiled without humor. "I will send you the coordinates tomorrow. But first," Nick stood up, looking as expressionless as a statue strong(A/N: I can't think of any better similes sorry :p)/strong, "get some rest. You're going to be having a long day tomoorow."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. walked out of his office, each footstep of his resonating through the room./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"•strong~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•/strong/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"It all started during P.E. one day. Alana never expected the day to get above average. Maybe it was because the day started normal enough, with Alana arriving the earliest; her friends arriving a little later; a little trash talk exchanged with the annoying jocks; boring lectures about Adolf Hitler and other stuff; so on and so forth. But fate changed its path so abruptly, Alana didn't see it coming./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Okay, class, listen up!" Coach Table boomed, catching everyone's attention. "So we're gonna work on our leg muscles by running two laps around the gym."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"There were some mixed reactions. Alana was on the em"meh" /emside. She was pretty athletic, if she didn't say so herself. But she wasn't considered a jock, since she wasn't douchey enough./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Someone in the crowd raised their hand. It was Vicky Gocip, no surprise. The girl was emso /emtalkative, she'd even talk to plants strong(A/N: lol what. Okay I'll stop barging into the story jeez)/strong./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Uh, Coach," Vicky said. "Is this gonna be a competition?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Coach Table scratched his non-existent beard (which Alana knows Coach cries over when he thinks no one is looking). "Hmm... Originally, I wasn't planning on making it one. But thanks for the suggestion." He turned to face the rest. "You hear that, kids? It's gonna be a competition!" This time, everybody, minus the jocks, groaned./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Thanks a bunch, Vicky." Lila McAdams, one of Alana's best friends, muttered. She had dirty blonde hair, shocking blue eyes, and a tan complexion from her summers and winters at California. She was just as athletic as Alana, but she wasn't down for competition./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Kalliope de Meyer, Alana's other best friend, tried for a smile. She had chocolate-brown skin and grey eyes. Her frizzy cinnamon hair had a streak of red (em"that symbolized the blood of her enemies," /emKalliope used to joke). "If only Anna hadn't asked that que—"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""WOO-HOO!" A new voice interrupted Kalliope. Alana didn't even have to look to know where it came from./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Josh," Alana gritted her teeth. Of all the jocks, Josh Evansson was the most annoying. He wasn't really buff, but with his dark brown hair, baby blue eyes, and charming charisma, a lot of ladies have fallen head over heels for him./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He smiled mischievously. "What? You scared to get run over by me?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana rolled her eyes. "In your dreams."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Whatever you say, Princess." Josh walked away to join his circle of friends./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"emPrincess, /emAlana thought. emYeah right./emOnce upon a time, Alana had an obsession with princessed as a kindergartener. Josh was the first to notice back then and adapted the nickname. Later on in life, after they've moved on from kindergarten, Josh claimed he still called her that because she acted like a princess:em"demanding and irritating."/em/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Coach Table's shrill whistle brought Alana back to the real world. "Okay, we're gonna divide you into groups of six." Coach paced back and forth so much, Alana was starting to get dizzy. "Martin! Kalliope! Vicky! Ruby! Josh! Alana! You're up!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana and Vicky shared a sigh while Lila cheered./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Have fun!" Lila waved, obviously relieved to not be running./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Thanks," Alana and Kalliope said in unison. They walked up to where Coach stood, Alana in between Kalliope and Josh. Josh flashed his trademark annoying smile./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Runners! On your marks, get set, GO!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The six, minus Alana, aforementioned students dashed off as far as their leg muscles could go./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana knew that was a bad idea. They should've started slow so that they wouldn't get tired at the middle of the race. She may have been a gymnast and all, but her dad was a professional runner. Alana pushed the thought of her dad away. She had to get her head in the game./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"As of now, she was way behind the rest. Even more behind than Ruby Clark, the least athletic of the group./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ruby looked back and raised an eyebrow, as if wondering how she had gotten ahead of someone./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana shrugged as if she didn't know why Ruby was ahead./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"After everyone made their first lap, Alana had surpassed Vicky and Ruby, the latter stopping to catch her breath. Alana was already at odds with Kalliope, who looked like she was starting to tire./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Must... Run... Faster..." Kalliope slurred./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""You go, girl!" Alana encouraged. "Also, see you later." She ran ahead of her friend, not needing to run too fast given that Kalliope was already slowing down./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"It was now Alana against Martin and Josh. Two jocks. How great. Surprisingly, she found it easy to beat Martin, considering he had a buff, swimmer's body and strong legs./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""On your left!" Alana called after Martin, passing through his left. This caused Martin to stop and loose precious time./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"All who was left was Josh. Alana thought it was a strange coincidence she was going against her least favorite person amongst the group./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""So it's me against you now, huh, Princess?" Josh smirked, trying to hide the exhaustion out of his voice. He was obviously tired, but he still managed to run at an incredibly fast pace./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana frowned. "How are you still running? You started off the wrong foot."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Josh raised his palms in an emI don't know /emgesture. "Guess I got some sort of superhuman powers."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana pointed two fingers at her opened mouth, stuck her tongue out, and made a gagging sound./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She proceeded to focusing on the end of the line. It was only a few meters away. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was worried that she might not have a chance against Josh. No. No more negative thinking. She was emso /emgonna win./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana nearly barfed. She was starting to think like Josh, competitiveness and all. That was a bad sign./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"All of a sudden, Josh spoke. "Hey! Your shoelace's untied!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Instinctively, Alana looked down and dropped on her knee. She blinked. Then she realized that her shoes didn't emhave /emshoelaces, but rather straps./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Too late./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"By the time she got up again, Josh was already back at where they started, his fellow jocks surrounding him. They were congratulating him and showering him with compliments./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Close try, Ms. Hudgens." Coach Table told Alana. She almost screamed in anger, but she managed to control herself. She exhaled sharply./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Thanks." She grumbled unhappily./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Coach walked away to praise Josh./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He tricked her. That delusional weasel. Alana was emso /emgonna punch him at his ugly face. She was about to but she stormed off to the girls' locker room instead, getting a glimpse of Josh looking at her./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Once she was all alone inside, she grabbed her water bottle from her locker and chugged it down angrily./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana didn't see why losing the race angered her. Maybe the fact that she lost to Josh was what probably ticked her off. She was about to return her water bottle when.../span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"emstrong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"BOOM!/strong/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The sound rang un Alana's ears for about five seconds. Then it occurred to Alana that an explosion just happened. And it sounded scarily close./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She dashed out of the locker room and saw her classmates making a single file toward the emergency exit. She ran up to Lila and Kalliope./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""What the heck is going on?" Alana asked frantically./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Lila's blue eyes looked bewildered. "Someone must've thrown a flaming bomb or something at the cafeteria."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""What?!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""I know," Kalliope agreed, fidgeting with the strand of her hair with the red streak. "Sounds almost as unbelievable as dragons."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""B-but, why?" Alana asked. "Why would anyone do such a thing?" That's when she made a decision that changed her life./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""I'm going in there to check on who dared to invade my school."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Kalliope and Lila looked at their friend like she needed to be sent to the mental hospital./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Lila lightly slapped Alana's face./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Ow! What the—"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Are you insane?! Lila practically yelled. "Do you have any idea howemflaming /emthe cafeteria is?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana placed a hand on Lila's shoulder, gave her and Kalliope a nod that didn't really state anything, then ran toward the explosion site, the mixed sound of her friends' screams echoing the gym./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"•strong~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•/strong/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana almost smacked her forehead with her hand so hard, she might've knocked herself all the way to Mars./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Was she insane? Probably. Was that gonna stop her from running? Nope./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Once she entered the cafeteria, her vision turned smoky gray. Smoke was everywhere. Fires were dancing across the place. Even the fire alarms sprinkling water couldn't extinguish the flames./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana coughed and fanned the smoke away with her hand. Behind the flames, Alana saw a humanoid figure. But Alana's gut told her something was wrong./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Hey!" Alana shouted as loud as she could. "Who the heck are you?! And what do you want?!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The figure froze for a solid second, then slowly started to grow bigger and bigger. Alana then realized he was making his way toward her. Alana mentally screamed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He finally materialized from the flames, revealing a silver robot who didn't look very much human. He (yes, Alana was able to identify the robot's gender) was about 7 feet tall and had dark gray streaks running across his metallic body,/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Ah, a puny little human." His beady red eyes seemed to stare down Alana's soul. "How surprising. I'm guessing you must be suicidal enough to come here, hm?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana tried to control her breathing despite the smoky environment. "Leave." She demanded, making a threatening pose. "Or I'll make you."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Metal Guy laughed. "Try me."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana knew it was a dumb move, but she did a roundhouse kick at his side./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The robot winced. Surprisingly, his metal felt like skin; mushy and vulnerable./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""W-what?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The robot probably would've turned red. "My master hasn't upgraded my body, okay?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana smiled wickedly. "Good." She started throwing some punches at his body. Left hook. Right hook. Uppercut. Occasionally, she would throw in some kicks./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The robot failed in defending himself. Unfortunately, he was better at offending. He kicked both of Alana's sides. Alana crumpled down to the ground./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"emUgh/em, Alana thought. emThey make it seem so easy in those action movies./em/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Give up, human?" The robot taunted, towering over Alana./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana tried to think, but her head was already spinning. She needed to buy time./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""So," she began, "I never got your name."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The robot paused, as if not expecting this to come at him. "Ultron Jr., child of Ultron, is what the world will know as the most fearful leader."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Oh yeah. Where is he?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ultron Jr. looked highly offended./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"In reality, Alana was terrified of him. He remembered when his father attempted to destroy the world nearly a year ago. She remembered it being in the news every time. The biggest attack happened at Sokovia, far away from New York, but the robot had scared her so badly, she didn't want to get out of her house for a week./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Idiot! I am gonna honor my late father by picking up where he ended." Junior started to pace around with a lot of hand gestures. "I will be better than him because I will learn from his mistakes! I will think of my plan for world domination step by step. Slowly, yet surely. emI /emwill bring peace in our time! emI /emwill—"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ultron Jr. came to a stop as he tripped over Alana's leg. Alana got up, smirking at what she had done. "What? You didn't see that coming?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ultron Jr. growled. He tried to get up, but Alana kicked him back down. "Oh no, you don't. You are gonna extinguish this fire or else..." Alana faltered as she saw the expression on his face. She must've pulled a nerve of his./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"He tried to stand up again, but succeeded this time./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana took this as a sign to move backwards./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ultron Jr. walked toward Alana in a pace she didn't like. "How DARE you trip the GREAT Ultron Jr. and make a fool out of him?!" He boomed./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"emUh-oh/em, Alana thought, carefully planning every step she took. emHe spoke in third person. Not a good sign./em/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Do you know who I AM?!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana tripped over a tray and fell on her bottom. Fortunately, she didn't land on the flames. She continued scrambling backwards, still on her bottom./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""I will be the one you'll be bowing to soon enough! I will be the one you'll regret messing with most!"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana's back hit the wall. She looked around and saw that she was trapped at a corner. This was her end./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ultron Jr. noticed this and smiled wickedly. "But, then again, you don't have to worry about any of these things at all. I could just, you know, simply ki—"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"em style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"CLANG!/em/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"In a blink of the eye, a flying tray hit his head, causing him to collapse. As Ultron Jr. fell onto his knees, Alana saw who the flying-tray wonder was./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She scowled. "You know I could've taken care of him myself, Josh."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Josh raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Sure you were, Princess."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana got herself standing on two legs again./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""So, uh, what now?" Josh asked./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Get a fire extinguisher, dummy." Alana said./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Josh ears reddened. "Oh yeah. Right."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"But before any of them could move a muscle, a newcomer entered the cafeteria. Alana couldn't see much with all the smoke, but she could make out a beige coat and locks of red hair./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana felt a twang of jealousy. She'd always wanted red hair. Her own ebony hair just seemed so plain./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Anyway, as the figure loomed in closer, Alana recognized who it was./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Black Widow." Josh murmured Alana's thoughts./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"The female Avenger looked down at them, as if trying to figure out what decoration they'd like at their funeral./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""So you two must be Alana Hudgens and Josh Evansson." She said expressionlessly./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Uh..." The words got stuck in Alana's throat, so she just nodded./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Well, then," Black Widow looked around the area, as if just registering the mess, "come with me. You guys are gonna get some combat training straight from the Avengers."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Okay. I'm in!" Josh said at the drop of a hat. He was about to run to the exit when Alana grabbed his forearm./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Wait," Alana looked at Ms. Widow. "What about the fire?" She gestured her hands around the place./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Already called S.H.I.E.L.D. Damage Control." Black Widow assured./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""And our parents?"/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Black Widow frowned, clearly annoyed. "They think you guys are gonna spend the rest of the day at a privileged math camp."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana thought for a moment. Just as the next person would, Alana would've immediately answered the call. But she wasn't one to break the rules, like skip classes. Then again, the principal might send the students and staff back home after the incident./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);""Well?" Black Widow urged./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Alana heard sirens beeping from a distance. By this time, Josh had already yanked his hand free from her grip./span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"She took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go."/span/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"And so, the three of them dashed out of the wreckage without a trace./span/p  
hr style="margin: 5px 0px; border: 0px; background-image: -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 100%, 100% 100%, from(#ffffff), color-stop(0.1, #cbcbcb), color-stop(0.9, #cbcbcb), to(#ffffff));" noshade="noshade" size="1" /  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"A/N: So what do you think guys? Better than before, or did you like the first one better? Me, I like this one cause idk it has more details./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Lol. I guess that concludes this chapter./strong/p  
p style="max-height: 999999px;"strong style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"Ruby out. PEACE./strong/p 


	2. Chapter 2: Abducted By The Black Widow

**A/N: And here I present...**

 **REWRITTEN CHAPTER 2! *jazz hands***

 **Lol I hope ya'll like**

* * *

As weird as it sounds, Josh had a peculiar fear of getting abducted. Probably because of all those alien stories his cousins used to tell him during family reunions.

They would say stuff about an alien wanting to phone home or whatever (turns out they were talking about E.T.).

After a few years, he finally convinced himself there was absolutely zero chances of him getting abducted.

But when life shows him otherwise, he strangely accepts it like he's never heard a single alien story in his life.

He guessed the reason why he wasn't panicking was because an _Avenger_ was the one who abducted him.

The Black Widow led both him and Alana (Josh didn't want to complain in front of Black Widow, but he would've preferred his pal Martin over Little Miss Princess) into a helicopter. Super cool.

Josh felt a bit guilty though for leaving his school at its current state, but Black Widow _did_ assure them help was on its way.

He climbed into the black chopper and took the passenger seat. "I call shotgun!"

"Hey! I wanna sit there, too." Alana complained.

Before Josh could answer back, Black Widow entered. " _Neither_ of you are sitting here." She said. "Both of you sit at the back."

Josh and Alana sighed and did as requested.

Natasha told them to fasten their seat-belts, only giving them a few seconds before taking off into the air.

The first few minutes of the ride flew in silence. Finally, Alana spoke up.

"Um, Miss Black Widow—"

"'Natasha' would do." Natasha said.

Alana nodded. "Uh, Natasha? Can you please explain what's going on?"

Natasha sighed. "About a week ago, Captain America, Falcon, and I went on a mission to retrieve some stolen weapons from HYDRA. It was a simple mission: go in and out. But it wasn't that easy, much to our surprise. Before we left, we came across this fleshy robot called—"

"Ultron Jr." Josh and Alana said in unison.

Natasha nodded. "We were surprised to see Ultron had a "son" in HYDRA, considering that Ultron wasn't affiliated with them. We came to a conclusion that someone from HYDRA had made a replica of Ultron, naming him his son. But the identity of Ultron Jr.'s inventor remains unknown."

Alana raised her hand. "And how do _we_ come in?"

Natasha's green eyes darkened, similar to how Alana's own green eyes darkened when someone talked about fathers around her. Josh knew the reason for this, but always kept silent.

"My boss, Director Nick Fury, thought when there comes a time we need to talk or reason with the robot, a younger set of minds would come in handy, since Ultron Jr. was built with a teenage mindset. So it'll be like a "teen-to-teen" sorta thing."

"Then why do we have to learn to fight when we're just gonna talk?"

Josh rolled his eyes. "So that we know what to do incase Ultron Jr. attacks, obviously."

Natasha nodded again. "Correct."

Josh stuck his tongue out, closing one eye and pulling down the other with his index finger.

Alana huffed in reply and flipped her black curls dramatically.

"Any other questions?" Natasha prompted.

Josh, this time, spoke. "How long will training be?"

Natasha closed her mouth for a moment. "Three weeks at most, from 8 to 5, weekdays."

The corners of Josh's mouth faced downwards. "But my bros and I always have Bro-Bonding Time every Broday..."

Alana stifled a laugh. "Broday?"

"It's Bro Code for Friday."

"You know," Natasha interrupted, "I could kick you out of Avengers training if you want."

Josh immediately felt defensive mode turn on. "No, no! I-I'm fine, thank you. I can always have Bro-Bonding Time next time." He blabbered.

This time Alana couldn't hold it in. She burst out into a series of laughs, much to Josh's embarrassment.

Josh noticed that Natasha didn't even crack a smile, which he found quite disturbing and weird. Sure, he was grateful for the heroine for not laughing, but ever since getting abducted by her, he's never seen her show a sense of humor. Josh, as always took this as a challenge to make her even smile a little during his three weeks with the Avengers.

Oh, gosh. Three weeks with the Avengers. Josh still couldn't believe it.

"We're here." Natasha finally announced.

Josh twisted his body so that he could see the view from his window. As the clouds cleared, he was able to make out a grey, wide building not too tall, but really impressive. Green fields surrounded the building.

 _Sweet,_ Josh thought. _Perfect for playing frisbee_ (which was his favorite sport).

At the center top of the building, there was a huge _A_ placed there: the Avengers' logo.

"Wow." Alana said, clearly just as amazed as Josh.

After a couple of minutes, the quinjet landed on an area of the grassy fields. Natasha was the first to exit, followed by Josh and Alana.

Josh was suddenly struck by a cold wind, sending chills down his spine. Coming from a burning building, he nearly forgot that winter was on its way into becoming spring, meaning that there was still cool in the air. He crossed his arms in an attempt to heat himself up a bit, even though he was wearing a coat.

"So," Natasha turned to face the two teens, "welcome to the Avengers Facility."

Alana raised her hand. "What happened to the Avengers Tower?"

Josh wanted to tape her mouth shut. "Can you stop asking questions? We're already here and—"

"No, no. It's okay. I can answer your question." Natasha insisted, though it was hard to tell whether she was being sincere.

"The Tower's still there. Tony Stark currently resides there, enjoying his retirement from "saving the world". But he occasionally visits us here."

Alana nodded.

"Come on." Natasha said. "Let's go inside." She led the two teens into the Facility.

The inside was just as impressive. The floor was tiled with newly-polished white tiles, matching the ivory white walls at the side. The ceilings practically touched the sky, giving an impression of space. Josh felt like he could finally breath.

The trio went into a narrower corridor which had many sub-hallways **(A/N: idk what to call them)** at either side, leading to who-knows-where. Natasha turned to one of the sub-hallways on her left, which led her toward a staircase going up. Josh and Alana followed suit.

Upstairs, there was a railing that connected from one wall to the other. Beyond the railing, the view of the first floor could be seen.

"You could sightsee later." Natasha said, bringing Josh out of a trance. "But right now, we have to train you two."

Josh and Alana sighed before trailing behind her once again. They finally made it in front of two blue doors. Natasha opened both and the view that laid on Josh's eyes nearly made him faint.

It was a training room. But not just any training room. _The_ training room that the _actual,_ legit Avengers trained at. It wasn't as big as the room back at the entrance, but it was really breath-taking and quite remarkable. It was twice the size of the gym back at school.

Hundreds of gadgets and training equipment alike filled the sides, still giving space to exercise. Several blue mats layered the floor. Bug windows lined the walls, allowing sunlight into the room. And at the center of all this were five very hard-to-miss figures.

"The Avengers," Alana said, stealing the words out of Josh's mouth.

There they were. The Falcon,Scarlet Witch, The Vision, War Machine, and of course, Captain America.

Josh was most marveled **(A/N: ba dum tsss)** by Captain America because he was Josh's hero. A long time ago, back when Josh's grandpa was still a kid of the 40's, the Captain had saved hum from getting kidnapped by a HYDRA man. If it weren't for Captain America, Josh wouldn't even exist.

Just as Josh went out of his reverie, Captain America paused his training to approach them. Josh immediately felt tense.

The Star Spangled Man With A Plan was wearing his iconic red, white, and blue uniform. He was wearing brown combat boots and his blonde hair appeared to be shining under the sunlight. He was the epitome of the perfect American role model.

"Um..." Josh mumbled, suddenly finding an interest in fidgeting with the end of his shirt.

The Captain simply chuckled. "So these two must be Alana Hudgens and Josh Evansson, hm?"

Natasha nodded gravely. She leaned in a bit closer to Captain's ear. "Steve, are you sure they can handle this?" She whispered, probably intending for only Steve to hear.

Despite that, Josh could hear her. This made Josh feel underestimated, a feeling Josh hated.

Steve waved his hand dismissively. "Come on, Nat. Where's your sense of faith? I'm sure they'll be fine."

Steve turned his attention toward Josh and Alana.

"Don't worry about it. You guy will do great."

Before Josh and Alana could react, Steve went back to the middle of the training room. The two teens followed him. They seemed to be getting used to following people by now.

Steve turned around to face the teens. "According to the coordinates Natasha gave me—"

"Wait." Alana interrupted. "Since _when_ did Natasha give you coordinates? She was flying the jet this whole time, wasn't she?"

Natasha flashed a sly smile. "I'm known for multitasking."

Steve rolled his eyes. "It's true."

Josh sensed there was something going on between these two, but he decided not to question it and go with the flow.

"Anyway," Steve continued, "according to those coordinates, you two were able to somehow beat Ultron Jr., correct?"

Alana nodded confidently whilst Josh nodded only half as enthusiastic. He'd never admit it out loud, but Alana had done _way_ more than Josh in defeating the robot. He was already feeling quite inferior over the fact that Alana was of the same height as him (he tried to tip-toe sometime when he was around her just to feel a sense of superiority).

Plus, the only reason Josh went there was because Coach Table told him to get Alana. Not because he wanted to sacrifice himself and protect everybody from the evil monster threatening their school. Some Avenger he was.

"Well, for two teens with zero experience in fighting whatsoever, you've done a pretty good job." Steve said.

Josh may have felt his cheeks flush red. He noticed Alana's cheeks taking a shade of red as well.

"Unfortunately, I don't think that was the last you'll see of Ultron Jr." Natasha ventured in. "Which is why we should start training now."

Just from looking around the room, Josh could already feel the adrenaline rushing up. He looked back at Alana and the two Avengers. He flashed a smile, feeling a _little_ bit more confident now.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" He asked. "Let's get started."

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes Chapter 2. It's not as long as the first chapter, which had 3000+ words but eh. I'm lazy. Lol.**

 **I'm sorry, btw, for removing the TØP part, TØP fans (especially to you, Thala, if you're reading this).**

 **Now I'm planning on posting a new chapter every Sunday (despite HopeIsTheWorld's protests),** _ **if**_ **I'm consistent and not procrastinating or studying. FYI, I got at least three chapters already written down rn, waiting to get published. But I prefer to take things slow and I hope you could understand (YAH HOPE).**

 **Ruby out. PEACE.**


	3. Chapter 3: Weapon Of Choice

**A/N: Hiiiii guyssssss. I nearly forgot today was Sunday. Lol I'm so forgetful. Ahhhh my throat is killing me. Okay I shall let you read on.**

* * *

Alana would've already been unconscious out of amazement if the Black Widow weren't behind her. Falling in front of her would've been a story Alana would never hear the end of. Especially from Josh.

Alana tried to stand on two legs for little bit longer (which was hard to do when you're surrounded with Avengers for the first time in your life).

"So, where do we begin?" Alana asked.

Steve scratched his non-existent beard in thought. "Maybe we can start by choosing your weapons." He suggested. "You know, so that we know how we can train you."

Alana and Josh nodded in agreement.

Natasha led the two teens once again to a small door at the back of the room. Alana had gotten pretty used to following Avengers, if she didn't say so herself.

Inside the room were scattered pieces of assorted weapons. Some were compiled into piles on the floor, some were hung at the walls, and some were laid on the shelves at one side of the room.

"Woah." Alana muttered.

"You guys have a room filled with weapons?" Josh asked. "And I thought all those gadgets you have were enough."

Natasha shrugged. "Just incase we feel like escaping our comfort zones." She gestured to the weapons. "Take your pick."

Alana slowly strolled around the room, trying to find an interesting weapon among the rest. Josh did the same.

The first weapon that captured Alana's attention were two brass knuckles; one for each hand. It was made out of silver and had small spikes at the top. She picked them up and slipped them onto her fingers **(A/N: I really should stop barging into this story, but does this make sense?)**.

"I see you're the hand-to-hand combat type, eh?" Natasha commented.

Josh coughed. "Barely even!"

Alana shrugged. "He's right. I suck at hand-to-hand." She placed the brass knuckles back down.

The next weapon she considered was a slingshot. Beside it, on the shelf, was a bag filled with various things that could be catapulted using the slingshot. Alana picked it up and pantomimed slinging something into the air with it.

Natasha's facial features scrunched up a bit. "I wouldn't pick that if I were you."

Alana frowned, discouraged. "Why not?"

"Simple. You could run out of things to launch even before the fight's over. And if you pack to much things to throw, it's gonna be inconvenient and all."

"Oh," Alana said. "But don't you wield a gun? Which has bullets that could also run out?"

"Unlike you, Ms. Hudgens, I can fight hand-to-hand, which can come in handy when I run out of bullets." Natasha explained, getting the slingshot from Alana. "Plus, I also wield electrical batons." She placed the weapon back where Alana got it.

"Yeah, you have a point." Alana sighed. Before she could look further, Josh cried: "Aha!"

Alana and Natasha looked at Josh's location. He appeared to have picked a baseball bat from a pile of guns, which was quite strange.

"I have found my weapon!" Josh declared, swinging the newfound object on his hand. "I used love baseball, incase you didn't know."

Alana raised an eyebrow. "You brought a baseball-themed cake to school during your 9th birthday. How could I not know?"

"Shut up, Princess."

"What if I won't, Babe Ruth?"

"So I see you opt for the baseball, Josh?" Natasha interrupted.

Josh cleared his throat awkwardly. "Y-yeah. I think. I don't know..."

"Keep looking if you aren't sure."

Josh nodded and kept searching, the baseball bat still clutched onto his hand.

At the far end of the room, something bronze glinted, attracting the two teens. As they got closer, they realized it was a small, undecorated, bronze disk leaning against the wall.

Josh was the first to pick it up. " _Oof,_ " he nearly dropped it. "It's quite heavy, I'll admit." He turned to Natasha. "What is it?"

Natasha shrugged. "I honestly don't know. It probably has the same functions as a frisbee disk, since it's too small to be a shield."

"Frisbee?!" Josh's eyes immediately looked like they were sparkling. "Okay. This is mine." He quickly discarded the baseball bat that was on his hand.

Alana looked back at where Josh picked the disk and saw another hidden weapon not as flashy as the disk. She picked it up out of curiosity.

"A sword?" Alana said, looking at Natasha. "Dude, that's so ancient."

"Well, Captain America still wields a shield." Natasha pointed out.

Alana touched the silver blade of the _gladius_ -style sword. "True..."

A memory from long before suddenly surfaced into Alana's head. It was of her father, who was an expert in ancient artifacts, teaching her how to wield a sword.

 _"Now, you grip onto it like this, and then stand like this."_ Her father had demonstrated.

5-year-old Alana tilted her head. Then she attempted to follow his position. _"Like this?"_

Her father looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, judging her stance. _"Hmm..."_ He smiled approvingly. _"Good enough. But you're missing something..."_

He now gave the sword, which was as tall as small Alana, to his daughter. She nearly dropped it due to the size, but managed to get a good grip on it. _"There. All better."_

Alana had never been so happy in her life. Both learning how to wield a sword and impressing her dad. It was something a five-year-old could ask for.

Present Alana nearly cried at the bittersweet memory. Fortunately, Josh brought her head out of the clouds and back on Earth.

"Uh, Alana? You okay?" He asked.

Alana blinked. Then she remembered she wasn't five-years-old anymore. "Yeah. Never been better." She faced Natasha. "Can this be my weapon?"

Natasha gave her the same look her dad had given her when she was learning how to wield a sword. It took all of Alana's strength not to crumple onto the floor and cry out of nostalgia.

"It's looking a bit rusty, and not quite as sharp as it's supposed to be. But I think Tony Stark can fix that when he visits again." Natasha said.

Alana beamed more optimistically than she was supposed to.

Josh raised an eyebrow. "Um, okay..."

"Let's go back to the training room." Natasha said. This time, the two teens went ahead of her out of excitement and confidence.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

Apparently, running one lap around Alana's school gym wasn't enough to reach the Avengers' standards of "warm-up".

In addition to running 5 laps around the training room (which was twice the size as the gym back at school, mind you), Steve instructed Alana and Josh to do a couple of push-ups, sit-ups, and a bunch of other warm-up exercises.

According to Steve, "Just because you already did warm-ups at school doesn't mean those warm-ups are enough."

Words of wisdom, in Alana's opinion.

While Alana ran her final lap, she watched in astonishment as Sam Wilson, a.k.a. The Falcon, pass by her by a mile like it was no big of a deal.

Obviously, the reason for this was because Sam had longer legs. But it somehow amazed Alana how he could easily surpass her, despite running twice as much laps as she.

Alana wished to someday be as athletic as Sam. This motivated her to run faster, which she desperately needed since she was far behind everyone else.

She was slowly able to catch up with Rhodey, better known as the War Machine.

"Well, you're fast for your age." He complimented between deep breaths.

"Thanks." Alana said, heavily breathing twice as much as him. "It means a lot to a girl who doesn't run that often."

"You'll get there." He flashed her a smile before dashing off again.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

After all that warming up, Alana was finally able to begin official training. She was assigned to train with Natasha, alongside Vision and Wanda Maximoff, who was the Scarlet Witch.

"So Wanda and Vision, you can start off by sparring with each other." Natasha instructed.

Wanda and Vision nodded and looked at each other. Alana sensed a feeling of weariness in their eyes.

"Remember: no using of powers." Natasha added.

The two Avengers looked like they didn't need to be told that. And so, they began their sparring session.

"What about me?" Alana asked. "Do I get to train with my sword?"

Natasha shook her head. "Patience, young grasshopper. You need to master hand-to-hand combat first."

 _Of course._ Alana thought. _Learn the hardest one first before anything else._

"Does that mean choosing our weapons was unnecessary?" Alana asked.

"No. Picking your weapons this early is quite vital for your training so that we'll know how to train you." Natasha explained. "Now, onwards with the actual lesson."

After an hour or two, Alana was already capable of doing the basic hand-to-hand combat moves, even sparring against Natasha. Fortunately, Natasha was kind enough to take it easy on her.

Natasha docked a punch Alana threw. She stood up straight again. "I'll have to admit, Alana. That wasn't so bad."

Alana tried not to look too flattered, keeping a poker face. "Thanks." She threw her fist again at Natasha, but missed and hit the wall behind Natasha instead.

Alana took back her hand and shook it, failing at concealing the pain. "Ow, ow, ow!" She muttered, holding her wrist.

Natasha smirked. "But, you're gonna have to improve some more."

"You don't have to tell me that twice." Alana looked back at the bench at the side of the room, a sole, plastic water bottle standing their. "Can I, um, have a water break?"

Natasha sighed. "Fine."

Alana nodded, mock-saluting Natasha, then ran off to the bench. Alana got her water bottle and opened the lid.

"Hello."

Alana was so startled by the new voice, she dropped her water bottle. Somehow, a red glow caught the bottle before it touched the floor, floating right back into the hands of Alana.

"Wha...?" Alana looked behind her and saw two figures looking at her apologetically. Wanda and Vision.

"I am truly sorry for alarming you, Ms. Hudgens." Vision apologized. Alana could see the sincerity in his face, despite being a robot. She was beginning to see that Vision wasn't just any regular, heartless robot.

Alana chuckled. "It's okay, Vision. You have nothing to worry about."

Beside Vision, Wanda flashed a quirky smile. A side of the Scarlet Witch Alana never saw on TV. "So how's your first day training?"

Alana dropped her eyelids halfway. "Exhausting. I've never experienced torture to my arms and legs this much before."

Wanda chuckled. "That's normal. I felt that way during my first few weeks of training." The older girl shrugged. "I eventually got used to the pain."

"Alana!" Natasha shouted from across the room. "Your training session still isn't over yet, you know!"

Alana sighed, causing Wanda to chuckle again. "That, too, is normal. You'll get the hang of it."

Vision nodded in agreement. "Very normal, indeed."

Alana managed a smile. "It was nice talking to you." And so, she started to sprint off back to Natasha.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

"Thank God training's over!" Josh exclaimed as he exited the training room. "My legs are starting to turn into noodles!"

Alana rolled her eyes. "Stop over-reacting." She leaned in a bit closer to his ear and lowered her voice. "Plus, Sam's here. He's probably gonna give us a lecture on how we shouldn't complain and whatever."

Sam, who agreed to walk the teens to the nearest bus station, raised an eyebrow. "Now why would I do that?"

Alana felt her cheeks flush, since she intended the message to only be between her and Josh.

"Well, you're an Avenger." Josh said. "Of course you'd give us a lecture and talk about freedom and justice and blah, blah, blah..."

Sam waved his hand dismissively. "That's Steve, not me."

"So Steve really is patriotic?" Alana asked.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Girl, he's the _epitome_ of patriotic. At least, most of the time."

"And when he's not patriotic...?"

"He's over-courageous. Jumping out of high platforms and all."

Alana laughed. "Sounds just like something Josh would do."

Josh puffed up his chest. "I'm not _that_ idiotic."

"You know," Sam said, opening the door to the outside world, "I wouldn't be surprised if Josh becomes Captain America Jr."

Josh eyes widened. "Really? How?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know. You two share some qualities, like courage and stuff. Plus, you wield a disk thing, which is kinda like a mini shield."

"That's the most beautiful comparison I've ever received." Josh fake-sniffed.

"Don't boost his confidence." Alana said, crossing her arms.

"I'm having my moment, Alana. Shush."

Sam chuckled. "I'd like to hear you guys banter some more, but I'm afraid we've already reached our bus stop."

Alana looked up and saw a single bench and a sign beside it that read _'Bus Stop'_. Alana's face fell. "Aww, don't go yet, Sam!"

"Yeah!" Josh agreed. "We were having a great time already! Don't ruin it!"

Sam chuckled again. "I'll see you two tomorrow." He waved at them one last time then turned around, leaving the two teens all alone with the sound of his footsteps echoing the place.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

Once the bus arrived, Alana and Josh practically scrambled toward it and raided the nearest vacant seat.

Lucky for Alana, she was able to claim the window seat before Josh could. He seemed to be fine with it though because as soon as his arm hit the armrest and his head hit his hand, he immediately dozed off to dream land.

Alana, meanwhile, couldn't seem to sleep. She stared out the window nearly the whole ride, watching as the Avengers Facility turned into nothing but a small speck of dirt in the dark background, blending in with the shadows.

She thought about all the encounters she had with each of the Avengers and how she's never anything so thrilling since she first rode a roller-coaster.

She smiled to herself. Then she felt her eyes drooping. Apparently, she _could_ fall asleep. Her lack of energy won over and she, too, hit the hay.

* * *

 **A/N: Yaaaaa okay I don't have anything else to say.**

 **Ruby out. PEACE.**


	4. Chapter 4: What's On Your Mind?

**A/N: Okay it's late where I am (not really but there's school tomorrow) and I'm supposed to be doing school stuff so I'mma skip the intro and just give you the chapter. Here you go**

* * *

As much as Natasha hated to admit it, the two teens—Alana Hudgens and Josh Evansson—weren't so bad for beginners.

Well, yes, they weren't so graceful but rather a but stiff. And yes, their reflexes were late. But they were just as crappy as Natasha was when she first trained at the Red Room.

Natasha wasn't liking what she was thinking. This whole idea of two minors training still felt so wrong.

The spy picked up the only two weapons left on the floor of the gym: a disk and a sword. The weapons of choice for them. It was an odd choice, since there were all these different high-tech gadgets available at the weapon storage shed. Despite that, Natasha thought it suited them well.

Then she flash-backed to the day she first chose her weapon and everything started feeling wrong again.

 _Ugh,_ Natasha thought. _Maybe some water would clear my mind._ She headed to the kitchen to get a refreshment.

Upon arriving there, she assumed she was alone. She went to the freezer and got herself a bottle of ice-cold water.

"Looks like someone's tired."

Natasha jumped, not being used to getting jumpy, since she was the one who usually startled people. She turned around to see the recognizable American man.

"Steve," Natasha acknowledged. "I suggest you don't go creeping up on me, especially since I have killer reflexes."

Steve got another bottle of water from the freezer and gulped half of it. "I know you wouldn't even lay a fist on me."

"What makes you so sure?"

Steve shrugged. "Because we're teammates." He gulped down the other half of the water. "Also, I trust you, remember?"

Natasha laughed without humor. "It's funny you trust someone who trust no one."

Steve placed his heart on his chest quite dramatically. "Are you saying you don't trust me?"

Natasha put her finger on her chin, as if deeply in thought. "That's a question I can answer in another day." She smirked then finished the water in the bottle as well.

Steve frowned. "Something's wrong." He stated.

Natasha looked at him, her mouth pressed into a straight line. "What makes you say that?"

"I may not be Wanda," Steve said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "but I could tell something—or someone—is bothering you."

Natasha looked down as though her sneakers were the most interesting thing here. She brushed off his hand. "It's nothing, really."

Steve frowned, clearly in disbelief. Then he lit up like the sun **(A/N: I still suck at similes)**. "How about we eat dinner at the roof top?" He suggested. "You know, have a picnic and stuff."

Natasha looked at him, raising an eyebrow inquiringly. "Are you asking me out?"

The soldier cheeks turned a light shade of pink. Natasha liked seeing the Star Spangled Man get all embarrassed and awkward.

"Uh, no." He answered. "I'm just giving you an option."

Natasha studied him for a moment, as she always does when she meets new people, then gave him a small smile. "I guess a little fresh air wouldn't hurt."

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

In a matter of minutes, Natasha and Steve were sitting alongside varieties of food on a blanket laid on the roof of the Avengers Facility. The wind breathed against the two Avengers' faces, tangling Natasha's red locks.

"See?" Steve said, getting a hold of a BLT sandwich. "This isn't so bad."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Who said I doubted you?"

Steve laughed and practically inhaled the sandwich, leaving her question unanswered.

She got a BLT sandwich herself and nibbled on it slowly. She watched the stars at the dark night sky glimmer like glitter on a piece of black paper. The city part of New York and its lights were hard to distinguish amongst the stars, since it was quite to far away for human eyes to see in the morning.

Steve, somehow, still wasn't satisfied. "I could tell you're still bothered by something." He said.

Natasha swore this guy had some sort of distressed detector wired into his body. Either that or her "emotionless" face wasn't working anymore. She hoped it wasn't the latter.

"Hey, I'm eating here with you." She gestured to the whole setting they were in. "Why wouldn't I be satisfied or whatever?"

"Because I know you don't express everything that's going on in your mind."

"So?" Natasha asked. "Why do you care?"

"Because I'd really like to see you happy for once."

The words echoed throughout the place, silencing all bits of sound.

The words struck Natasha like lightning. She didn't know why, though. Maybe it was because she's rarely heard someone care for her this much. She appreciated it and hated it all at once.

Steve scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry." He apologized. "Didn't mean to get so carried away."

Natasha nodded. "It's fine."

"If I tell you what's on my mind, will you tell me what's in yours?" Steve suggested

Curiosity got the better of Natasha. "Okay. But you first."

Just by seeing him look up at the stars dreamily, Natasha could already tell what was in his mind.

"Bucky Barnes." He whispered.

Although the name didn't sound like much, it brought some sort of impact on even Natasha.

She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Steve—"

"I know you think he's a criminal." Steve said. "But he's still just a human like both of us. He's just... Broken a bit more than everyone else..."

Natasha wanted to say she didn't think Bucky was one bit of a criminal, but her voice found itself stuck in her throat.

Steve took a deep breath. "His current location is still a mystery to me, but I know he's out there, somewhere. Hopefully okay."

The two sat in silence for a minute or so. Then Steve straightened his back and faced Natasha.

"Now it's your turn." He reminded. "What's on your mind."

The corners of Natasha's mouth faced downwards. She thought Steve would've been too caught up in his own problems, he'd forget about Natasha's silent dilemma.

"Fine." She grumbled, avoiding any form of eye contact. "I'm worried about these teens training."

Steve nodded. "I should've known. But why, though?"

"They're just so... Young. So fragile and inexperienced..." Natasha tried not to get too deep into the details. "Yeah, that's what's in my mind."

Steve shook his head. "Nat, when will you ever learn to be a bit more trustful with people?"

"No, it's not about my trust issues. It's something else..." Natasha looked up into the stars that didn't seem as bright as they were earlier. "Something I don't want to delve into further."

Steve sighed, then nodded. "Okay, I won't ask any further then."

One corner of the spy's mouth twitched upwards. "Thanks for understanding."

The soldier and the spy finished their dinner in silence, enjoying the stars and each other's presence.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

 _Clang. Clang. Clang._

That was the sound of metal footsteps meeting with the stone cold ground.

At least, that's what it's supposed to sound like.

He hated that he wasn't like all the other robots. Sure, he got all the looks and functions right, but his so called "metal armor" was an entirely different story he didn't like to mention.

"Remind me, master," he said, arriving at his master's office, "why, out of all the metals in the world, did you choose to coat me with the _softest_ metal on Earth?"

His master was hidden in the shadows of the room, sitting on a throne-like chair that faced him. "Now, now. Don't complain. _Carnesium_ is my greatest discovery, after all."

" _Carnesium._ " He said, his artificial mouth tasting bitter. "I hate that word."

"Anyway," his master continued. "I gave you the honor of giving you an armor of the softest metal on Earth because... Well, I had no other options in hand. All the other metals I had weren't enough to cover you up."

"Blah, blah, blah. All I hear are excuses."

"Can you not be so stubborn just for once?!"

"I can't not be something I was wired to be!"

Even with all the shadows surrounding them, he could tell his master was scowling beneath the curtain of darkness.

His master breathed. "Please give me your daily report." Master said as cooly as possible, trying to get rid of the anger. "And _please_ tell me you did something remarkable this time."

The robot cleared his throat, then began to fill his master in with more details, although he might've added a few extra details to make the story sound more exciting.

But, as usual, it didn't excite his master. All his master did was sigh in reply. "You didn't even get their names." He sighed again. "Go to your station. Do something productive or whatever."

He felt as though his master had made the _'shoo, shoo'_ gesture with his hands. He grumbled and ran off to his station, which you could consider as his personal room.

Once inside, the robot angrily swiped off all the things laid on the lone table at the side of the room.

"I will show you, master." He promised. "I'll show you who's the boss here."

* * *

 **A/N: yes yes I know this chapter's short. Idk why though. I guess it's the fact that I changed the whole angsty scene from the original version of this and replaced it with something lighter (yiesh that original was too much).**

 **Anyhoo, please review and favorite and all that other stuff. Okay bye.**

 **Ruby out. PEACE.**


	5. Chapter 5: Take Out And Lights Out

**EDIT: Yo, so I kind of added some minor adjustments here. If you're too lazy to reread everything, just go to the part where Josh goes to McDonald's (that's where the additions are). K, bye.**

 **A/N: YAY! CHAPTER 5! A chapter that I haven't published in the original version of this story. WOO! Are you excited? *waits for answer*. You are?! GREAT.**

 **(Sarcasm be like)**

 **Okay I'll stop.**

* * *

If it hadn't been for the bus's loud speakers, Josh would have missed the bus stop at his neighborhood. He payed the bus driver the amount he needed then hopped of the bus and ran as fast as he could to his house.

 _Oh, crap._ He silently prayed. _Please let my mom not get mad at me._

After what seemed like forever, his once-noodle-like legs finally brought him to his house. It was easy to spot in the morning because it was the only blue-colored house on the street he lived at. He fumbled for the replicate of his house keys and unlocked the white door, which opened inwards.

"Mom!" He yelled, wiping his feet at the doormat incase his shoes were dirty. His mom _despised_ dirty floors. "I'm home!"

He heard footsteps coming from the stairs. "Josh?" Josh's mom, Josephine Evansson, said once she set foot on the ground floor.

She was wearing a teal, knee-length nightgown and her glasses were sat atop of her head. She was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers. Not something a mom would normally wear. Her dark brown hair was tied in a ponytail, her signature warm smile etched on her young-looking face.

Josh hung his coat on the coat hanger attached to the stairs. "Sorry I'm late mom."

His mom gave him a tight hug, which took Josh by surprise because his mom rarely gave him hugs. "Oh my gosh. You're okay."

Josh winced. "You're squishing my ribs."

Josephine let go. "Sorry." She apologized. "It's just... Your school called earlier and told me about the fire incident. They said they couldn't find you and that other girl..."

"Alana?"

"Yah!" She snapped her fingers. "Her. Anyway, I was so worried, I tried to call you but you didn't pick up."

That's when Josh remembered he had forgotten something. "Oh no! My bag! I left it at—"

"School? Don't worry." Josephine reached for something that sat on the nearest chair to them. "The rescue team retrieved it and the school sent it to me."

She tossed the dark green bag to Josh as though it weighed nothing. Josh barely managed to catch it.

"So, you, uh, know where I went after that?" Josh asked cautiously. He silently prayed again that his mom wasn't aware of his secret training session with the Avengers.

"Of course." His mom confirmed.

Josh gulped.

"Although I think it's a bit odd that you had to go to Math Camp immediately after that fire incident." She added.

Josh raised an eyebrow, then the first conversation he and Alana had with the Black Widow (which was just earlier) surfaced into his brain.

 _"And our parents?"_ Alana had asked when Natasha told them they were gonna train with the Avengers.

Black Widow had frowned, obviously ticked off by Princess. _"They think you guys are gonna spend the rest of the day at a privileged math camp."_

"Right..." Present Josh muttered.

"What?" His mom asked.

Josh shook his head. "Nothing." Just as he said that, his stomach growled like a couple of lions. He felt his cheeks flushed.

"Yeah... I haven't eaten since lunch, and the food was that surprise lasagna nobody knows the contents of." He explained.

Josephine sighed. "Sorry I didn't save some of my homemade spaghetti."

The last three words were enough to get Josh's stomach to growl with more lions.

"Christie, Dad, and I finished it all. But you can get some McDonald's if you want. It'll be quicker if you get fast food rather than wait for another 30 minutes for me to cook."

Honestly, Josh preferred his mom's homemade dishes over anything else. But his hunger won over his preferences (his hunger always won over everything).

"Yeah, I'm cool with that."

Suddenly, he heard another pair of footsteps come rushing downstairs, this pair more rapid compared to his mom's gentle footsteps.

Josh took this as a signal to hide behind the sofa. He peeked from behind and caught sight of a smaller figure laying her foot onto the ground floor. The small figure immediately ran toward the sofa, causing Josh to duck.

"I know you're hiding there, Josh!" The little girl giggled, kneeling on the sofa and looking at the back.

"No, Josh isn't here." He played along, laughing. He squeezed his eyes shut as if he would just disappear out of existence if he did so.

The little girl giggled again. "Josh!"

"Christie!"

Even though they had a gap of seven years, Josh liked to hang out with his little sister when he was in a bad mood. Fortunately for them, they got along pretty well.

Christie didn't look much like Josh, but she could be identified as Josh's sister by the big, brown eyes that were always wondering. She was wearing Doc McStuffins pajamas and her light brown hair was in a tousled mess.

Once again, Josh's stomach grumbled. "Do you mind helping me?" Josh asked.

"Sure!" Christie held out a hand and picked Josh up with all her might (although Josh did most of the getting up).

"Wanna play doctor with me?" Christie suggested. These days, she's been into anything related to medicine and stethoscopes. That eventually brought her to like the show imprinted onto her PJs.

Josh shook his head. "Sorry, Christie. I need food to survive."

Josephine joined in the scene and gave him a bunch of cash enough to get him a Big Mac burger. "Here. That should be enough."

Josh nodded in thanks.

Christie pouted. "Aw, okay."

Josh ruffled her already messed up hair then he, once again, ventured off into the outside world.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

Much to Josh's expectations, the line at McDonald's wasn't so filled with people. In fact, the whole place had quite a small crowd. It was practically deserted in fast food chain standards.

Josh didn't want to wait any longer and got in line at the shortest one.

The girl in front of him seemed to already have her order intact, so Josh pulled out his cash from his pocket.

Apparently, Josh stood too close behind the girl, so she ended up bumping into him.

"Ow," Josh muttered, rubbing his forehead. "Can you watch it?"

"Sorry," she mumbled, getting a tighter grip on her take-out bag. With all that dirty blonde hair covering her face, it was hard for Josh to read her expression.

When she looked up and caught Josh's face, she paused, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping slightly.

Josh probably made the same expression when he realized what was going on.

"Josh?"

"Lila?"

"Uh, sir."

Josh tilted to his left so that he could see the cashier, since Lila was blocking his view. "Yeah?"

"May I take your order?" The cashier said, her tone slight impatient and rushing. "There are people waiting, too, y'know?"

Josh nodded, feeling his cheeks warm a bit. "Right." He turned to Lila. "Don't leave yet. We need to talk."

Lila nodded, making way so that Josh could directly face the cashier.

After a couple of minutes, Josh and Lila were already delved into a conversation.

"So the whole school thinks Alana and I are _dead?_ " Josh exclaimed, taking a handful of fries from his take-out bag.

"Technically, Vicky does." Lila specified, sipping her Coke Float.

Josh sighed, shifting his weight on the seat. "Of course she does."

Lila smiled. "But I'm just glad you and Alana are okay." She raised an eyebrow, getting all serious again. "Alana _is_ okay, right?"

"I can assure that." Josh mock-saluted.

Lila laughed, her voice echoing the slightly empty fast food chain. The two had decided to take a seat in the area itself and have a conversation that clarified things, despite both getting food to-go.

Lila slurped her drink again. "So, are you guys having fun in Math camp?"

Josh faked a smile. "Oh, yeah. Math camp is _sooooooo_ fun. I get to learn all about polynomials and conversion of units and stuff." He ended his mini-rant with a straight face.

Lila chuckled. "I'm just surprised you ended up there, seeing that you're more of the sporty type."

"Hey, don't underestimate my vast knowledge on numbers." Josh teased.

The two laughed for a moment at Josh's little comment. After the laughing subdued, Josh began to speak again.

"Since you asked me how was Math camp, I shall ask you how was school, in general."

Lila lit up like a light bulb. "Oh, yeah! School got suspended for a week since the cafeteria needs some repairing." She gave Josh a smug look. "This meaning I get to chill at home and do nothing while you have to do Math."

"What?!" Josh exclaimed. "That is _so_ not fair!"

Lila stuck her tongue out and laughed.

The pair began to bicker playfully about nonsense. After a while, they continued to eat/drink in silence for a moment, letting the sound of who else was here fill their ears.

"So," Josh coughed, filling in their silence, "wanna hang-out or something sometime? Maybe Friday? I won't be back at school till' three weeks or so, and I won't be able to see you then."

Lila raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Are you asking me out on a date?"

"No." Josh stated. "I am merely asking you if you want to _hang-out_ , which is different from the term _date_."

Lila pretended to ponder, tapping her finger to her chin. She looked at Josh then nodded. "I'd like that."

Josh grinned like an idiot, then stood up with his take-out bag. "Great! I shall see you at the..." He paused, thinking of where to hang-out.

"Cinema?" Lila suggested.

Josh snapped his fingers. "Yeah. The cinema."

"Okay."

Just before Josh exited the fast food chain, he turned to face Lila again. "Around 6:00?"

"Sure!"

"Okay. Bye." He waved then went out with his food and a smile.

Once outside, he smacked his forehead. ' _Real smooth, Josh,'_ Josh thought to hinself. _'Real smooth.'_

Josh wasn't one to show affection toward people in public. It ruined his tough reputation. When he did show affection, however, he was as awkward as a teenage boy going through puberty (technically, he _was_ a teenage boy going through puberty).

He sighed, shaking the thoughts off. Maybe his smooth talking skills won't improve now, but someday.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

And just when Josh thought he was alone with his Big Mac burger, all source of electricity shut down.

"What the heck?!" He exclaimed with a mouthful of burger bits.

"Josh?!" He heard his mom call out from upstairs. She then descended the stairs, holding Christie's hand with one hand, and a flashlight in another. His little sister looked like "Are you okay?!"

"It's so dark here." Christie mumbled sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah." Josh replied. "I'm fine."

He looked around, expecting another figure to come running toward him. "Uh, where's dad? Didn't you say he was here?"

Despite the darkness, Josh could feel his mom frowning. "Your father only dropped by to eat dinner, then he left to work again."

Josh tried to hold back a sob. _As usual_. He thought.

"It's okay." He cleared his throat. "Let's find out what just happened."

The mother, daughter, and son trio walked side-by-side outside so that they could see a bit more with the moon's light.

Josephine got her phone and dialed the electricity company while Josh called someone himself. (In case you wanted to know, Christie was trying to fall asleep on the bench on their garden, Josephine keeping an eye on her from time to time).

It took a while for the receiver end to pick-up, but fortunately for Josh, he didn't hang up.

"Hello?" Josh greeted.

 _"Josh."_ Steve acknowledged at the other end.

Josh managed to hold back a squeal. Meeting the Avengers was one thing. Getting their numbers and calling them was another.

He cleared his throat. "Do you guys, uh, know what's happening?"

 _"The whole blackout thing?"_ Steve asked. _"Cause' yeah. We're experiencing it as well. Rhodey and Sam are already going to turn on the generator."_

"Do you have an explanation?" Josh asked.

 _"From what the news on Nat's phone is telling her, the source of this blackout is unknown."_

 _"But,"_ a new, not so clearer voice butted in. _"I have a feeling it has something to do with that stupid Ultron Jr."_

 _"Nat,"_ Steve said. _"Let's not jump into conclusions."_

Natasha muttered something Josh wasn't able to comprehend.

 _"Sorry about Nat."_ Steve apologized. _"She's a bit disappointed because we didn't get to finish our dinner."_

Josh has never related to an Avenger this much in his life.

Just then, he heard a _ting_ come from the phone. "And I assume that's the sound of the generator providing you with electricity."

 _"Correct."_ Steve confirmed.

Josh could hear a couple of other things happening in the other end. He tapped his foot as he waited for Steve to say something.

Finally, he heard Natasha exclaim. _"I told you it was him."_

 _"Hello? Josh?"_ Steve asked.

"Still here."

 _"Good. Just making sure."_ Steve said. _"Apparently, the news on TV got updated, and they found out that something attracted all the electricity citywide."_

 _"And that someone is Ultron Jr."_ Natasha continued. _"I got some reliable sources telling me that Ultron Jr. got too much power for his body to handle."_

"Is that a good thing?" Josh asked slowly. Josh felt as though Natasha rolled her eyes, though he wasn't sure.

 _"Of course."_ Natasha replied. _"Ultron Jr. may not be permanently dead, but at least it delayed his vicious plans, giving you and Alana more time to train."_

Josh nodded understandingly. "Should I inform Alana?"

 _"No need."_ Steve said. _"We'll tell her tomorrow. If needed by then, we'll call her."_

"What about the electricity? Is it gonna come back?"

 _"Already got that covered."_ Natasha assured.

As if on cue, the lights in Josh's house turned back on.

Josh dropped his jaw, even though the two Avengers wouldn't be able to see him. "How?!"

 _"A spy never reveals her secrets, Josh."_ Natasha joked.

"I thought it was a magician and not spy." Josh said.

 _"See, that's what magicians and spies have in common."_

Coming to think about it, she had a point.

 _"Yeah. Both are_ very _secretive."_ Steve commented.

Another long pause occurred, but Josh felt a bit of tension going on between the two.

"Anyway..." He butted in. "I should probably go to bed now."

 _"Good idea."_ Steve agreed. _"Early to bed, early to rise, and early to train."_

"Right. Good night." Josh hung up and ran back to his mom. She was talking to this man in protective gear, and the two seemed to be in a heated conversation.

"Uh, mom." He said. "What's going on?"

The guy was speaking rapidly and uncomprehendingly, each word sounding foreign to Josh's ears.

His mom sighed exasperatedly. "Mr. Electrician, here, is complaining about how I wasted his time by bringing him here, only to find out that the problem has been solved."

Josh looked at the electrician again, moving his mouth to the side **(A/N: do you know what I mean?)**.

"He's Italian." His mom explained briefly.

Josh nodded, everything making sense now. His mom was fluent in Italian as well as a bunch of other languages.

She always dreamt of traveling around the world, but she ended up learning various languages at home since she couldn't afford to travel outside of America.

"Um," he turned to the electrician. " _Ciao_ , _signore_ electrician."

Mr. Electrician huffed in reply. Josh hoped the electrician understood the English bits because his Italian was rusty.

"Okay..." Josh mumbled. "Do you mind going back to your, uh, _casa_? _Per favore_?"

The electrician didn't move a muscle, still retaining the crossed-arms and grumpy face pose.

"I could make you some _gelato per libero_ tomorrow?"

The electrician's eyes widened at the sound of the word "gelato".

 _Note to self:_ Josh thought. _You could bribe Italians with free_ gelato _._

The electrician nodded in agreement, shaking Josh's hand.

 _"Grazie! Grazie!"_ He exclaimed. _"Tornerò domani!"_ He ran off to his motorcycle and dashed off back (to his _casa_ , hopefully) _._

Josephine turned to her son. "You just promised free gelato to a grumpy, Italian electrician."

"Yup."

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Then she ruffled her son's hair. "Well that's another problem for tomorrow."

"Good, cause' right now, I'm exhausted." Josh agreed.

"You? Exhausted at only 8:30 pm?"

"Yeah, Math did a lot to my brain this morning."

Josephine laughed softly and wrapped her arm around her son's shoulder. "Come on, Christie. Let's get back inside."

When Josephine turned to face Christie, she realized that the little girl was already running back inside, eager to get some rest. Josephine shrugged and then headed back to their house with Josh.

"You know, Josh," his mom spoke, "your Italian needs a little fixing."

"Well, I never had any intentions of learning Italian in the first place." He defended himself.

"Yeah, we'll talk about it in the morning." His mom said.

Josh thought about it for a moment. He probably wouldn't have time to playfully bicker or learn other languages with his mom anytime soon, as much as he'd love to. He sighed, wistfully thinking of the days where he'd just hang-out with his mom and sister.

He exhaled slowly, then looked at his mom with a hopeful smile. "Okay. We'll talk tomorrow."

* * *

 **A/N: Yo yo yo, guys. I got a confession to make, yo. I** _ **might**_ **not be able to publish chapter 6 next week cause' I haven't written much of it yet. See, I was being a good student and focusing on my school work and stuff (and I've been Pinteresting during my spare time). So I'm really sorry if I won't be able to publish next week (especially to HopeIsTheWorld).**

 **Okay toodles, my lovely friends! Don't forget to review and favorite and stuff :p**

 **Ruby out. PEACE.**


	6. Chapter 6: Fighting Dummy 729

**A/N: GUYSSSSSS! Please forgive meeeee! Oh, who am I kidding? Ya'll will never forgive me. I haven't posted in a month. I'm not even gonna try explaining. Okay, I'll shut up so that you guys can read.**

* * *

One thing about Alana was that she was a night owl.

This meaning she could go on the night doing multiple tasks such as finishing her homework, watching Netflix and chilling with a bowl of popcorn, chit-chatting with her friends via text, and even doing her chores.

And she could do all this until 12 midnight without letting her eyelids droop or letting her limbs sway lazily.

But when the sun rises and the time to actually do something productive comes, Alana wouldn't even move an inch on her bed.

In short, it took great skill to get Alana to wake up on time. Unfortunately, no one claimed the title of having the skill to 'wake Alana up on time' today. And unfortunately for Alana, she was late for training.

She hurriedly threw a bunch of vegetables onto the poor triangular slice of bread in an attempt to make a "healthy breakfast". At the same time she combed her black mane ferociously, barely letting any of the teeth of the plastic comb survive.

"Shoot, shoot, shoot..." She cursed as one tooth of her pathetic comb came off. Right now, she was splattering mayonnaise all over the bread in no particular design.

She checked the clock and realized that it was already 7:42. "What the heck?!" She muttered. "I could've sworn it was only 7:35!"

"Alana! Stop screaming!" Her mother screamed from her bedroom. "You'll lose your voice if you're too loud!"

Alana rolled her eyes. "I wasn't screaming, mom. I was only _slightly_ raising my voice."

This was a typical morning in the Hudgens' household, despite only having two members. It was always a scream fest.

See, Alana's mother, Evelyn Hudgens, was a manager of a dance studio. And just like any typical manager, Evelyn was presentable, poised, and sometimes strict. She always had two frequent moods: 'screaming at everything' and 'creepy calm'. Sometimes, she was both, and that frightened Alana.

"Then calm down, at least! I'm sure your math camp directors or whatever will understand your tardiness!" Evelyn shouted again.

Alana remained silent, concentrating on finishing her sandwich while at the same time recalling the combinations Natasha had suggested to her yesterday.

She finally topped the sandwich with another triangular slice of bread. She shook of the breadcrumbs on her hands, slipped her delicacy into a Ziploc, and threw it into her bag.

"I'm gonna go now, mom." Alana said, heading to the door.

Her mom stepped out of the room, her black curls that mirrored her daughter's flowing down her shoulders like a beautifully dark waterfall.

"You're taking the bus again?" Evelyn said. "You know, I can take you there, myself."

Alana shook her head. "No need." She walked back to her mom and kissed her cheek.

Her mom crossed her arms. "Okay. Just remember: no talking to strangers—"

"—no matter what they tell you." Alana finished.

"Also, don't forget to—"

"—Keep your personal belongings in tact."

"And—"

"—don't get involved in any form of violence." Alana sighed. "Trust me, mom. I'm more independent than you think."

The corners of Evelyn's mouth turned upwards. "I know."

With nothing else left to be said, Alana turned to the main door again and left.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

Alana turned around, slashing her temporary weapon, a thick pole, at Natasha.

Natasha dodged her attack effortlessly. She responded to Alana with two light punches at the stomach.

Unfortunately, when Black Widow gives you 'light' punches, the impact is enough to knock someone down.

Alana pushed herself up into a sitting position with her hands. "I thought we were just sparring and not getting into an actual fight." She muttered.

The spy laughed dryly. "Your pain tolerance needs to increase if you want to be released into the battlefield."

Alana huffed, finally getting herself onto her feet.

"Come on," Natasha said. "You still haven't won a single sparring match against me."

"Of course I haven't! You're the freaking Black Widow!"

Natasha tapped her index finger onto her chin as if thinking thoroughly. "Of course. How could I forget."

Alana raised an eyebrow. Before she could ask, Natasha looked up and said, "Hey, Friday. Bring in Fighting Dummy 729, if you don't mind."

"Uh, who's Frida—"

 _"As you wish, Ms. Romanoff."_

Alana jumped, nearly losing her balance. She looked to Natasha for answers.

"Friday's this artificial intelligence Tony Stark created in place of J.A.R.V.I.S., who is currently Vision."

Alana looked at Vision, who was sitting down on a bench, chatting with Wanda animatedly. She decided not to ask more questions knowing she'll end up getting even more confused.

She was so caught up with her thoughts, she didn't realize that right beside her was a pure white, human-shaped robot. Due to her encounter with Ultron Jr. three days ago, Alana instinctively raised her pole in defense.

"Since I'm way too advanced to be a compatible match for you, you will be fighting with this robot Tony Stark also made." Natasha explained. "You can adjust its settings to make it milder or wilder."

"Let's go with milder." Alana said.

Natasha nodded, hoping the android got that command.

 _"Initiating beginner combat mode. Level one."_ Fighting Dummy 729 raised its artificial arms in a fighting stance. _"Are you ready?"_

"You know, you could've given me an easier time by making me spar against him during the past three days." Alana told Natasha, mirroring the robot's stance.

Natasha shrugged. "I needed to teach you all the basic moves and give you the idea of making good combinations physically."

Alana looked back at the robot and put on her meanest game face. She started off with a simple roundhouse kick to the head.

Fighting Dummy caught Alana's leg with its hand and pushed it back down lightly. Fortunately, it wasn't 'Black Widow' lightly.

Alana tried again with another kick, this time aiming for the side of the robot's stomach. Fortunately, she was able to hit the robot, moving it an inch to the side.

The robot easily recovered and directed a similar kick to Alana's side stomach. She remembered the most recent combination Natasha taught her. It involved locking the opponent's leg with one arm, elbow-punching the knee downwards, then spinning to give another elbow punch to the face. Alana performed this quickly, sending Fighting Dummy to the floor.

Natasha nodded in approval. This distracted Alana, giving Fighting Dummy time to give a sneak attack. He swept Alana off her feet with its legs.

"Ow," Alana muttered. "And to think this was beginner mode..."

She tried to get up, but Fighting Dummy beat her to this and kicked her back down. Alana suddenly remembered the pole she was still gripping onto. She smacked the robot's knee.

It brought up its leg and held onto it for a moment like any human would do in a similar situation. Alana took this chance to jump back up and punch the robot in its permanent pale face.

Fighting Dummy was sent backwards, then it came to a pause.

Confused, Alana looked at Natasha. Natasha held out her hand, gesturing her to wait.

 _"Level one completed."_ Fighting Dummy spurted out. _"Initiating level two."_ The robot raised its arms and started chopping the air wildly. Then it started moving forward.

"Uh, Natasha..."

"This will teach you to dodge attacks." Natasha said.

Alana gulped. The robot was only feet away from killing Alana. Fortunately, in the nick of time, Alana's senses came in. She ducked the attacking pair of arms as it arrived.

She shot back up and counterstroke one arm with her pole. She bended it downwards, twisting Fighting Dummy's arm in a disturbing angle. The robot seemed unbothered by this because he twisted his arm back in the right way.

The robot clenched its fists and began punching endlessly. Alana dodged each and every one of them, returning the punches after every bend.

After a few more moves, level three was then activated.

"This is easier than I thought." Alana commented.

"Don't speak too soon." Natasha warned.

Fighting Dummy came at Alana at walking speed, which befuddled Alana.

"Huh." She said. "What's up with th—"

Before she could finish her sentence, Fighting Dummy was suddenly standing right in front of Alana. He knee-kicked Alana at the gut, sending her downwards.

Alana clutched her stomach, the world before her spinning. She hissed in pain.

"Come on, Alana. Focus." Natasha encouraged.

Alana blinked again and then remembered what she was supposed to do. Except she didn't know how to execute it.

She looked up at the robot, who was looking down at Alana, ready to fight. She shifted her glance toward Natasha. Then Alana's brain swarmed with memories of the many combinations Natasha had demonstrated to her.

She spun her legs, aiming to knock the robot onto his legs. But she didn't make a full 360° rotation. Fighting Dummy remained unmoved. Alana tried the move again and was successful. She jumped right up, lifting her fists to chin level in a fighting stance.

The robot got up almost too quickly and sent a fist toward Alana. Alana docked to the side, grabbed its arm, and made the robot face the floor. She knee kicked his gut and elbow punched its back.

Apparently, that wasn't enough to knock the robot out. Its system was now stronger than earlier.

Fighting Dummy shot right back up. Its legs alternatively kicked Alana's sides. The whole thing went by so fast, Alana wasn't able to defend herself. She just so happened to lock a leg after a couple of hits.

She tried to repeat the elbow-punch-to-the-knee-spin-elbow-punch-to-the-face combo. Unfortunately, she missed the robot's face since it managed to move its head aside.

Alana lost her balance somehow and then fell face-first onto the floor. It was then she began to realize that Fighting Dummy had become slicker, quicker, and trickier.

She turned her body so that she was facing upward. Before she could stand up, the robot stepped on her stomach, pinning her downwards. She aggressively tried to remove the foot, but with all her strength, she couldn't.

A crazy idea came up and Alana immediately regretted following it. She bit the metal leg, instantly drawing back her mouth **(A/N: why can't I make it make more sense?)**. She was glad her teeth didn't crack and was also glad the robot lifted its leg in confusion.

The girl pushed herself back up and gave the robot a punch in the face. Alana looked at Natasha, not really knowing why. Then she got an idea.

She channeled all the Black Widow-ness in her and tried to perform all the combinations Natasha had thought her. Unfortunately, it wasn't working. She wasn't being Black Widow enough,

She decided to go behind the robot's back and attempted to do a choke hold on his neck with her arm. But the robot kept twisting around, making it hard for Alana to properly execute her plan.

Soon enough, Alana lost her grip on Fighting Dummy. At that moment, Fighting Dummy turned to the left, tossing Alana toward the nearest wall.

She slumped to the floor, all her limbs feeling as limp as a noodle. Her vision started to fade away.

No. She refused to black out just yet. This was only level three. She slowly got herself back up her feet and dashed toward the robot. Honestly, though, she had no idea what to do.

Just before she could slam herself onto the robot and make a complete fool of herself, a flying, metallic disk came flying at her direction. Well, at least that's what she thought.

The disk sliced the robot's chest, putting it to a stop. The disk made a _clang_ sound as it dropped on the floor.

Alana's heart beat so fast, it almost popped out of her chest. She was frozen, unable to move or think or do anything.

The robot in front of her, who once moved at lighting speed minutes ago, was now as dull as a coloring book without colors. Its chest was now torn in half, wires that resembled tiny, colorful snakes. It looked far from functional.

"Sweet!" Josh said, breaking the silence. He ran to the damaged site and picked up his weapon. "I think I'm getting the hang of this superhero-ing."

"Good for you," Alana muttered bitterly.

 _"Level three completed."_ Fighting Dummy buzzed, despite its state. _"Initiating level fo—"_

"Stop, stop! Please stop." Alana begged.

Immediately, the robot shut down, not making any other movements.

"What the frick?!" Natasha exclaimed, entering the scene. "I just left for two minutes to drink some water and then I see _this_?"

Josh raised his hand sheepishly. "Sorry. This was my doing. The disk kinda went into the wrong direction."

Natasha sighed. "Well, at least Tony made 728 other Fighting Dummies." She placed her hand on Josh's shoulder. "Good job, Josh."

Josh grinned from ear to ear. "Thanks." Natasha didn't return the smile.

Alana looked down, rubbing her arm. "Do I, uh, still have to spar with another Fighting Dummy?"

The spy looked at the clock above the door. "Time's up already. We'll continue again tomorrow." And with that, Natasha walked out with a poker face.

"Gosh darn it." Alana mumbled. "It's already been three days and I still can't become like Black Widow."

"Cheer up, Lana—"

"Don't call me 'Lana'. You're not my friend, therefore you don't have the rights to call me that." Alana said bluntly.

"Okay, yiesh, Princess. Anyway, like I said, cheer up. I'm pretty sure Natasha didn't become a deadly assassin in such time." Josh said. "But _I_ became a bad-a superhero in such time, so you basically gotta look up to me."

Alana raised an eyebrow skeptically. "Destroying a robot doesn't count as being 'bad-a superhero', in my book."

"Debbie Downer."

"Six-piece Chicken Mc-Nothing."

"What the _heck_?"

 _Bzzt._ Alana felt a vibration in her pocket. She reached into and grabbed her phone. She turned it on for the first time since Monday (she still kept it in her pocket just in case, though). On the screen flashed one message sent from Lila McAdams.

 _'Hey where r u? Its almost 5'_

Alana's nimble thumbs moved around the keyboard, composing a message of her own.

 _'Ill b there. W8'_

"Ah, crabapples." Alana muttered in real life, placing her phone back in her pocket. She ran off to the bench were she placed her backpack.

"Where are you going?" Josh asked.

"I have gymnastics lessons today and I nearly forgot." Alana explained, slinging her backpack's onto her shoulders.

"Hah, loser. You forgot your own schedule." Josh teased.

Alana gave him a quick punch in the shoulder. "Shut up. I'm gonna leave." She exited the training area, running as fast as she could.

• **~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•**

In all the times she's attended gymnastics lessons, Alana has _never_ been late. Not even by a minute. But due to her training, her 'punctual-student' reputation was now stained.

Luckily, she had worn her leotard and tights underneath her training outfit before leaving the house, so all she had to do was remove her training clothes.

She ran as fast as she could from the bus stop to the gymnastics studio. She finally arrived at the glass door that had the logo plastered on it: a girl spinning a piece of ribbon around her body.

Alana pushed the door open and dropped her bag amongst the other numerous bags on the floor. She noticed the others were already done with their warm-ups and were now practicing their moves on the balance beam one by one.

She tried to blend in and fall in line like she didn't arrive, but one of her gymnastics coach, Ms. Zoe, caught her.

"Alana." She called. She wasn't usually strict, which made her a favorite coach amongst students. Alana was glad it was her teaching them today.

Alana turned her head and sighed. "I know, I know. I came in late. Sorry."

"Alana, it's unlike you to be tardy." Ms. Zoe stated, approaching her student. "Where have you been?"

"Uh, Math Camp." Alana said, relieved she didn't say "training to become an Avenger".

"Math Camp? So you're a math fan?"

"Apparently." Alana muttered.

Ms. Zoe raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, yes." Alana corrected.

Ms. Zoe sighed. "As much as we are close, Alana, you still need to make up for your tardiness."

Alana looked down. "I know."

"That's 20 push-ups for you."

"Yes, ma'am." Alana got on the floor and started pushing her body upwards and downwards with her fists.

Once she was done, her stomach was already churning oddly. Alana swore she could feel her abdomen forming a six-pack. She ignored the pain and fell in line once again. After about five people in front of her, she saw her friends Lila and Kalliope falling in line as well.

She waited for them to notice her, which took a while. Finally, a fellow gymnast alerted the two girls of Alana's presence. They turned their necks and at the sight of Alana, their jaws dropped and their eyes widened.

Alana gave a small wave in greeting.

Lila was the first to shake out of her surprise. She mouthed the words _'We need to talk.'_

Alana raised her hand in a gesture that told them _'Wait. Later.'_

And so they talked during break time afterwards, but not before Lila and Kalliope tackled Alana in a hug. Apparently, that hug was a surprise hug coming from behind, which kicked off Alana's new instincts to fight back with an elbow punch. If Kalliope hadn't said anything, Alana's friends would've been dead.

"Oh my gosh!" Kalliope exclaimed. "I'm _super_ glad to see you again!"

Alana returned her friend's smile. "The feeling's mutual."

"Where have you been?!" Lila asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"Math Camp." Alana replied.

"I mean, I know that. Josh told me. But, like, where have you been when you weren't at Math Camp? You never answered my texts or calls!"

"Sorry, Lila. I guess I've been so tired of Math Camp, I've never found the time to bother check my phone."

"Well," Lila paused to gulp down some of her water, "at least you're here now." She wrapped her arms around each of her friends' shoulders.

"Alana!" Ms. Zoe called.

Alana turned her head to see fellow gymnast, Nica, still standing on the balance beam, Ms. Zoe standing on the floor beside her.

Alana walked toward them. "Yes, Ms. Zoe?"

"Mind demonstrating to Nica how a hand-walk on a balance beam looks like?" Ms. Zoe asked. "Y'know, for reference?"

Alana shrugged. "Sure." Nica got off the balance beam to give Alana space, so Alana got up. She took a deep breath, then did a handstand, careful to keep her balance. She ignored the throbbing pain on her abdomen and began to walk all the way to the end of the beam with her hands. She got back to her feet with grace.

"There," Alana said, catching her breath. Her limbs ached more than ever.

Nica looked at her in amazement. "Thanks, Alana!" She turned to Ms. Zoe. "I understand now." She then went back up the balance beam and attempted to do the same.

Ms. Zoe looked at Alana, her grey eyes sparkling. "You've improved quite well, Alana. Have you been practicing at home?"

Alana shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

Ms. Zoe placed a hand on her student's shoulder. "Alana, I've always seen potential in you. Keep up the good work." With that, she walked away to attend to another student.

Never in her life has Alana felt so good about herself. She was rarely complimented about anything. She appreciated Ms. Zoe for being one of the few people to admire her. Alana walked back to her friends with a proud smile.

"Alana, that was amazing!" Kalliope exclaimed, giving Alana another hug.

Lila nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Alana shrugged nonchalantly.

"Now, back to the topic." Lila said. "We _need_ to hang-put again sometime."

"Tomorrow, at 5:30?" Alana suggested.

"Uh..." Lila's cheeks flushed red. "But I'm kinda meeting someone tomorrow at 6."

Kalliope grinned, leaning closer to Alana to whisper. "Josh asked her out on a date."

"A _hang-out_ , Kalliope." Lila corrected. "Besides, you would've known this if you'd read my texts, Alana."

Alana ignored that last comment. "You what?! Lila, that's great!" Lila would never admit it out loud, but Alana knew Lila had some feelings for the guy.

"Eh," Lila waved her hand dismissively. "It's no biggie. Anyway, when can we meet?"

"Okay, guys, break time's over!" Ms. Zoe announced. All the gymnasts came rushing back toward the line behind the balance beam.

"Let's decide later." Alana said. "Right now, I'd like to improve my gymnastic skills."

* * *

 **A/N: AHHHHDHSKKSHSHSBXJSKSKKSKSUSHSJ THOR: RAGNAROK SHSJISKAJAHAHSID I FINALLY GOT TO WATCH IT YAS IM SO HAPPY JDJSJSJDBDBS BUT SO MUCH EMOTIONS? Okay I'll sleep now bye.**

 **Ruby out. PEACE.**


End file.
